Typical break-open shotguns, also commonly referred to as break-action shotguns, are breech loading firearms wherein the barrel is pivoted away from the receiver when extracting and reloading new shotgun shells/cartridges. Autococking shotguns include an autococking mechanism wherein the hammer is cocked to the firing position upon breaking open of the barrel. Once new shells have been loaded, the barrel is then return pivoted to seat against the face of the receiver. A user can then fire the shotgun upon squeezing of the trigger to release the hammer whereby the hammer strikes a striking pin causing ignition of the primer and powder within the shell.
The shotgun may include a safety lever which may selectively place the shotgun in a safe condition whereby the trigger cannot be squeezed thereby preventing release of the hammer. Disengaging the safety lever places the shotgun within a fire position whereby squeezing the trigger fires the shotgun. While the safety lever may prevent unwanted firing of the shotgun, accidental firings may still occur as the hammer is maintained in a cocked position even while the safety lever is engaged. However, failure of the safety lever or disengagement of the safety lever, such as upon dropping or impacting the body of the shotgun, may cause unintentional release of the hammer and unwanted, and possibly deadly, firing of the shotgun. This hazard is further compounded within hammerless shotguns wherein the entire firing mechanism is housed within the body of the firearm. As such, a user encountering a hammerless shotgun will not be able to visually see whether the hammers are cocked or whether there are live shells within the chambers.
Thus, what is needed in the art is a safety mechanism configured to prevent unwanted discharge of the shotgun and to selectively place the hammers within a decocked position wherein dropping or impacting the shotgun body will not cause the hammers to strike the striking pin and fire the shotgun.